Thisbe commits suicide (compare the play-within-the-play in
A Midsummer Night's Dream).
From the Roxburghe Ballads;
University of Victoria
Library.

Most of the suicides which appear in Shakespeare's plays
don't conform to a single moral viewpoint or tradition. A
tragic hero who unwaveringly follows the code of "death
before dishonor" would show little of the inner conflict and
self-doubt which make for compelling tragedy.

Shakespeare's plays demonstrate the versatility of suicide as
a dramatic device. Since suicide was such a controversial --
and sometimes paradoxical -- subject (see
the previous page), a particular character's suicide could
provoke a wide range of emotions: from
horror and condemnation to
pity and even respect. The links below discuss various types
of suicide in Shakespeare's drama.

Othello's final speech, just before he stabs himself,
contains an interesting textual ambiguity. Most modern
editions of the play follow the first quarto, in which
Othello describes himself as "the base Indian, [who] threw a
pearl away [Desdemona] / richer than all his tribe"
(5.2.346-7). The Folio, however, has "base
Judean," which suggests that Othello was comparing himself to
Judas (the only apostle from
the tribe of Judah) who, like Othello, killed himself in
despair after a betrayal. In typical Shakspearean fashion,
"Judean" may also be a double reference to Herod the Great,
who killed his wife in a fit of jealousy.

If "Judean" is taken as the correct reading, then Shakespeare
draws on two conflicting ways of thinking about suicide --
all within the same few lines.

On one level, Othello's suicide is that of a dignified
soldier who, in typical Stoic fashion, sees death as
the only escape from the miseries of life. Othello still
maintains his nobility and is committed to act honorably by
killing himself:

I have done the state some service, and they know't.
No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate,
Nor set aught down in malice.
(5.2.338)

Othello's last words are similar to the final speech which,
in Elizabethan custom, noble prisoners were expected to
deliver to the audience before their execution. The purpose
of this speech was to allow the prisoner to make a last
appeal for his or her good name, although the audience
certainly would have appreciated it more for the
theatricality which it added to the execution. Sir Walter
Raleigh was known for the moving (and lengthy) speech he made
before his execution in 1618.

However, Shakespeare may also have been referring to the
Christian connotations of shame and despair in the same
speech (see the next note).

A common type of suicidal character was a woman (often a
virgin) who kills herself either to avoid rape or as a
consequence of it. Shakespeare's narrative poem The Rape
of Lucrece tells the story of the loyal and chaste Roman
wife who is raped and kills herself out of shame. In his
particularly bloody Roman play, Titus Andronicus,
Shakespeare presents another rape victim named Lavinia whose
tongue is cut out so that she cannot name her rapist. At the
end of the play Lavinia is killed by her own father who
cannot live with her dishonor.

Although Lavinia's death is not a suicide, both she and
Lucrece exemplify the Roman value of family honor over life.
Shakespeare depicts both victims with great sympathy. By
writing about the issue of suicide and rape, Shakespeare was
dealing with a moral problem which had long been
controversial: was it right for a chaste woman to kill
herself because of rape (or the threat of it)?

For tragic lovers like Romeo and Juliet who could not find
happiness with each other in life, suicide was a way to be
symbolically united in death. The sanctity of the tomb
replaced that of the marriage bed, as Romeo's final speech
suggests:

Shall I believe
That unsubstantial Death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorrèd monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee
And never from this pallet of dim night
Depart again
(5.3.102)

By ending their lives while their love is in its prime, Romeo
and Juliet transcend the corrupting influences of time and
circumstance. Their love becomes idealized and untouchable,
liberated from what Romeo calls "this world-wearied flesh". A
similar pattern is evident in Cleopatra's suicide and those
of Pyramus and Thisbe in the play-within-a-play staged in
A
Midsummer Night's Dream.

The connection between love and death was prominent in the
literature of neoplatonic courtly love,
especially the idea that death was the ultimate consummation
of true love.

Suicide was a good way for dramatists to take care of female
villains who had to be killed but could not die in combat or
be executed. Two of Shakespeare's most notorious characters
of this sort are Goneril [from King Lear] and Lady
Macbeth. Both commit suicide when it appears that their
respective plans have failed and their forces are about to
lose. Both suicides also take place offstage and are reported
to the audience by other characters.

Footnotes

The honorable thing?

On one level, Othello's suicide is that of a dignified
soldier who, in typical Stoic fashion, sees death as
the only escape from the miseries of life. Othello still
maintains his nobility and is committed to act honorably by
killing himself:

I have done the state some service, and they know't.
No more of that. I pray you, in your letters,
When you shall these unlucky deeds relate,
Speak of me as I am. Nothing extenuate,
Nor set aught down in malice.
(5.2.338)

Othello's last words are similar to the final speech which,
in Elizabethan custom, noble prisoners were expected to
deliver to the audience before their execution. The purpose
of this speech was to allow the prisoner to make a last
appeal for his or her good name, although the audience
certainly would have appreciated it more for the
theatricality which it added to the execution. Sir Walter
Raleigh was known for the moving (and lengthy) speech he made
before his execution in 1618.

However, Shakespeare may also have been referring to the
Christian connotations of shame and despair in the same
speech (see the next note).

A betrayal?

Othello's final speech, just before he stabs himself,
contains an interesting textual ambiguity. Most modern
editions of the play follow the first quarto, in which
Othello describes himself as "the base Indian, [who] threw a
pearl away [Desdemona] / richer than all his tribe"
(5.2.346-7). The Folio, however, has "base
Judean," which suggests that Othello was comparing himself to
Judas (the only apostle from
the tribe of Judah) who, like Othello, killed himself in
despair after a betrayal. In typical Shakspearean fashion,
"Judean" may also be a double reference to Herod the Great,
who killed his wife in a fit of jealousy.

If "Judean" is taken as the correct reading, then Shakespeare
draws on two conflicting ways of thinking about suicide --
all within the same few lines.

Death before dishonor

A common type of suicidal character was a woman (often a
virgin) who kills herself either to avoid rape or as a
consequence of it. Shakespeare's narrative poem The Rape
of Lucrece tells the story of the loyal and chaste Roman
wife who is raped and kills herself out of shame. In his
particularly bloody Roman play, Titus Andronicus,
Shakespeare presents another rape victim named Lavinia whose
tongue is cut out so that she cannot name her rapist. At the
end of the play Lavinia is killed by her own father who
cannot live with her dishonor.

Although Lavinia's death is not a suicide, both she and
Lucrece exemplify the Roman value of family honor over life.
Shakespeare depicts both victims with great sympathy. By
writing about the issue of suicide and rape, Shakespeare was
dealing with a moral problem which had long been
controversial: was it right for a chaste woman to kill
herself because of rape (or the threat of it)?

Lovers united in death

For tragic lovers like Romeo and Juliet who could not find
happiness with each other in life, suicide was a way to be
symbolically united in death. The sanctity of the tomb
replaced that of the marriage bed, as Romeo's final speech
suggests:

Shall I believe
That unsubstantial Death is amorous,
And that the lean abhorrèd monster keeps
Thee here in dark to be his paramour?
For fear of that, I still will stay with thee
And never from this pallet of dim night
Depart again
(5.3.102)

By ending their lives while their love is in its prime, Romeo
and Juliet transcend the corrupting influences of time and
circumstance. Their love becomes idealized and untouchable,
liberated from what Romeo calls "this world-wearied flesh". A
similar pattern is evident in Cleopatra's suicide and those
of Pyramus and Thisbe in the play-within-a-play staged in
A
Midsummer Night's Dream.

The connection between love and death was prominent in the
literature of neoplatonic courtly love,
especially the idea that death was the ultimate consummation
of true love.

Getting rid of the villain

Suicide was a good way for dramatists to take care of female
villains who had to be killed but could not die in combat or
be executed. Two of Shakespeare's most notorious characters
of this sort are Goneril [from King Lear] and Lady
Macbeth. Both commit suicide when it appears that their
respective plans have failed and their forces are about to
lose. Both suicides also take place offstage and are reported
to the audience by other characters.